Hedges has two basic tiers of wine. The first is Hedges Family Estate, which includes their flagship Three Vineyards wine, as well as single vineyard offerings of Cabernet, Merlot, and Syrah, and a fortified wine. The second is CMS which includes a red wine and a white wine. The term CMS comes from the red blend which is composed of Cabernet, Merlot, and Syrah. CMS is the winery’s value offering.

Unfortunately the 2007 CMS Red reminds me a bit of some other value wines I have begun referring to as “hangover wines” where a glass or two leaves you not feeling so good the next day. You could do worse, but at this price point, you can do better.

Hedges CMS Red 2007 $12 Rating: . A reasonably engaging nose with maple and chocolate with berry and light spice behind it. A bit of heat. Reasonably full mouthfeel with a lot of berry and a tart taste with a touch of blueberry. Taste does not hang together completely and is a bit unappealing toward the finish. Warmer, more standard, temperatures are not very kind to the wine. 51% Merlot; 42% Cabernet; 7% Syrah. 13.8% alcohol. 57,000 cases produced. Sampled at 62 degress.

This month's Virtual Tasting - Hedges CMS Red 2007 - will take place tonight. I will be opening the wine about 7pm and looking to get my notes up around 9pm. Please join us in trying this wine and posting your thoughts about it.

For new Virtual Tasters out there, write as much or as little about the wine as you like. Don't be feel intimidated that you have to write something detailed! Write whatever you thought about the wine...liked it, didn't like it, thought a lot about it, didn't, etc.

If you can't join the Virtual Tasting tonight, feel free to try the wine at any point and post your notes up once the virtual tasting post is up after 9pm tonight.

Guardian Cellars is one of the many wineries located amidst Woodinville’s office parks. The winery and wines are named after winemaker Jerry Riener’s previous life as a policeman.

Prior to starting Guardian, Riener worked for six years at Mark Ryan Winery. Guardian’s first vintage was two barrels of cabernet in 2003. The winery is sourcing fruit from some excellent vineyards, including Stillwater Creek, Conner Lee, Kiona, Klipsun, and Destiny Ridge.

Wines:

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Name

Notes

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Guardian Cellars Angel Sauvignon Blanc Columbia Valley 2007

Bone clear. Lots of mineral notes and cantelope with a bit of sharpness at the end of the nose. A good effort that is very well balanced. 14.1% alcohol. 140 cases produced.

$20

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Guardian Cellars Gun Metal 2005

Light in color. Black pepper, light anise, spice and baking chocolate on the nose. A pleasing, medium-bodied taste with an excellent mid-palate. Chalky tannins and a medium length finish. A slight unevenness at the very tail end is all that holds this wine back. 14.7% alcohol. 400 cases produced.

Starting last month, I am counting down to my 40th birthday May 23rd with a celebratory wine on the 23rd of each month. Last month’s wine was from Leonetti (notes to come). This month we move to Betz Family Wines.

I picked the 2002 Pere De Famille in anticipation of the release of the 2006 vintage of this wine the first full weekend of March. The 2002 vintage of Betz’ Cabernet-based Bordeaux blend is a stunner and is an easy five to seven years away from maturity. Meanwhile, I am an easy ten to fifteen away from maturity.

Wines:

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Name

Notes

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**

Betz Family Wines Pere de Famille Columbia Valley 2002

A lively, complex nose that can be smelled over a foot away after pouring. Deep, dark fruit swirl around earth, cedar, black pepper, and anise - a virtual wine wheel. On the taste, a gigantic wine with gripping tannins and an absolutely gorgeous mouthfeel. An hour after decanting it refuses to be tamed. 77% Cabernet; 17% Merlot; 6% Malbec. Klipsunb, Ciel du Cheval, and Alder Ridge vineyards. 14.4% alcohol. 705 cases produced.

Reminder that this month's Virtual Tasting will take place this Thursday. As usual, I will be opening the wine - the 2007 Hedges CMS Red - about 7pm and looking to get my notes up around 9pm. Please join us in trying this wine and posting your thoughts about it. Write as much or as little about the wine as you like. Don't feel intimidated by having to write a professional-style tasting note. My favorite VT comment was "Blech!"

If you can't join the Virtual Tasting on Thursday, feel free to try the wine at any point before or after this and post your notes up once the virtual tasting post is up on the 26th.

Next month we will be trying some reader recommended wines including Columbia Winery’s Merlot and Kiona’s Lemberger. If you have a favorite wine that retails for under $15, leave a comment or send me an e-mail and I will check it out.

Wines:

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Notes

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Sagelands Freddie’s Blend 2006

Mint, spice, black licorice and smoky, toasted oak with a bit of fruit showing through. A fair amount of oak – which is a bit overbearing at times – as well as berry on the taste. A full mid-palate loaded with fruit and oak. After about an hour, mocha and spice show through. A bit heavy handed at times but recommended as it gives you a good bit to talk about at this price point. Recommended. Sampled at 66 degrees. Purchased at Pete’s Bellevue for $9

$13

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Haystack Needle Sangiovese 2007

A classic sangiovese style that is light, bright, and tart. Young and earthy, it is just a touch hot on the nose.

Purchased at Pete’s Bellevue for $9

$9

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Eliseo Silva Syrah Columbia Valley 2006

An engaging nose with violets, berry, plum, herbs, and tobacco. Lots and lots of fruit on a taste that is a bit over-extracted. A good value overall but quite over the top. 13.5% alcohol.

Purchased at Esquin for $9.

$9

.

Maryhill Red Wine 2007

Fairly light in color. Lots of toasty oak aromas including caramel and threads of chocolate. Coats the palate and has a fair tannin lick but is pretty thin in the middle. A little unevenly balanced and hangs around in a bit of an unpleasant way. The Syrah definitely shows through.

Sampled at 63 degrees. Purchased at Safeway for $8.

$13

.

Pavin and Riley Merlot 2005

Very dark in color. Toasted oak aromas overwhelm most of the fruit initially. As it opens up, truffles and dark berries start to show through. A simple, straight-forward somewhat chewy merlot. One of those wines you seem to care for a bit less as time goes on. 13.5% alcohol.

Adams Bench is the work of Tim and Erica Blue. The winery is named after the school bench where students were sent as punishment when Tim was a boy in Indiana (The bench now resides at the Blue home).

Starting out as a winemaker, Tim, a trial lawyer in Seattle, peppered Andrew Will’s Chris Carmada with questions via e-mail. The relationship grew over time and Carmada remains a consultant to the winery.

Adams Bench is making very good wines that are striving for greatness (the reserve Cabernet reminded me a bit of a baby Quilceda). The winery is committed to maintaining itself as a small production operation. The number 1000 – for one thousand cases – is featured prominently on the winery’s logo.

A delicate nose with pencil shavings and spicy plum. A tight fruit core surrounded by black fruit and lots of black currant. A slow attack that opens up and then blossoms. A bit short on the finish. 13.8% alcohol. 175 cases produced.

$33

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Liberty Bay Syrah Columbia Valley 2006

An unusual nose with mulberry and a light nut component along with something I just can’t put my finger on. At times, floral to the extent of almost seeming perfumed. A thick, gripping taste that is a bit over-extracted. 15.4% alcohol. 194 cases produced.

An engaging nose with dark rich spice and dried fruit. A bit of alcohol on the nose. A rich wine that is a bit over-extracted but opens up and expands nicely. Has the best finish of those tasted. 14.7% alcohol. 25 cases produced.

Brian Carter began making wine in Washington in 1980 for Paul Thomas Winery. In 1988, he started Apex Winery. Brian Carter Cellars was incorporated in 2004 after seven years of making wine out of the Apex facility.

Wines:

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Name

Notes

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**

Brian Carter Cellars Solesce 1999

An expressive nose with earth, dried fruit, rose petals, and a potpourri of spices. Beautifully put together with an incredible dose of cranberry that comes on in the mid-palate and remains through the finish. An elegant collision of old and new world styles. Close to its peak.

Sampled at 62 degrees. Purchased from the winery.

NA

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Brian Carter Solesce 2000

Bright maraschino cherry, light mint, floral notes, and a generous amount of white pepper. The nose is subtle, pretty, and interesting but doesn’t deliver quite as much as I would like for a wine its age. Fairly forward on the palate and then trails and lingers. Tannins still have a lot of firmness. Improves a bit after one hour of decanting.

In terms of quality and value (Quality to Price Ratio or QPR in wine parlance), Woodinville’s Novelty Hill consistently ranks toward the top. The wines are always excellent to exceptional at reasonable price points and can frequently be found on sale. Winemaker Mike Januik – who also has his own Januik label – serves as winemaker.

Novelty Hill sources much of its fruit from Stillwater Creek Vineyard. The winery's portfolio includes a number of vineyard designated wines from this vineyard. Stillwater Creek is a 245 acre, family owned vineyard on the Royal Slope of the Frenchman Hills (you can feel the new AVA coming!) in Royal City, Washington about 45 miles east of Ellensburg. Stillwater Creek is providing grapes to an increasing number of vintners including Betz, Baer, and Saviah.

Doug at Wino Magazine put a blog post up earlier in the week about the effects of the economic downturn on small wineries. One of his suggestions is to buy directly from the winery. I have mentioned this in the past and couldn’t agree more, especially in tough economic times.

An example I heard a while back has stuck with me. A winemaker said it cost him $13 per bottle to make his wine. It wholesaled at $15 per bottle and retailed at $30 per bottle. So for every bottle he sold through distributors, he made $2. For every bottle he sold through the winery, he made $17. Let's do some simple math here. Say he makes 200 cases of a wine. The profit margin is $4,800 if sold exclusively through a distributor. $40,800 if bought exclusively through the winery. Needless to say that is quite a difference. It is easy to understand why wineries that do almost all of their business through mailing lists - such as Leonetti, Quilceda, and Cayuse - do quite well. For this reason, buy direct if you can.

That said, one thing for wineries to consider is dropping their shipping costs to a minimal amount. For many consumers, there is a barrier to buying directly through the winery due to the often high shipping costs. Given that the bottle cost is often close to that found in many retail stores, you are adding an often significant cost. If the shipping cost is $24 per case (not uncommon), that's an extra $2 a bottle. For your $60 wine or a wine that is not available locally, maybe you don't care. In cases like the present when people are focusing on value, it is a deal breaker, especially given that there are so many options on the shelves. In particular, if someone is just going to buy a bottle or two, adding in a shipping cost of $10-15 (again not uncommon) is completely prohibitive.

The bottom line is that if buying through the winery is cost neutral to positive for the consumer, more will take advantage of it. Ask Columbia Crest how their one penny shipping did in December although the 95 point Wine Spectator review clearly helped there. I would encourage wineries to consider minimal shipping costs combined with an aggressive email campaign to increase sales to help get through the tough times. I'm not suggesting the wineries take it on the chin in terms of shipping costs, but rather look at the overall benefits (decreased shipping cost but increased margin). At least during the economic downturn, it is something for wineries to consider.

David and Cecile Larsen are the owners and winemakers for Soos Creek Winery which is located in Kent, Washington. The winery was founded in 1989 and has slowly grown in production to over 1,500 cases.

David Larsen is one of a number of winemakers who started out in the Boeing Winemaking Club. More importantly, David is in the group of Washington winemakers who are also climbers – one of my other passions.

Soos Creek sources its fruit from some of the best vineyards in the state, including Champoux, Ciel du Cheval, Boushey, Klipsun, and Sagemoor.

The latest releases from DeLille continue their tradition of excellence. The white wines – released in the fall - are exceptionally intricate. The reds – released this weekend - are elegant and spectacular, although extremely young and needing some time. The only drawback? These are not recession reds.

Wines

Score

Name

Notes

$

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Doyenne Metier Blanc Red Mountain 2007

Almost clear in color except for a beautifuly gold hue. Dried apricots an mineral dominate the nose. A creamy feel on the taste with an intricate, textured finish. 100% Viognier. 100% Red Mountain.

$32

*

Doyenne Roussanne Red Mountain 2007

Beautiful floral nose with a light citrus component. Light and crisp on the palate with mineral on the finish. 100% Roussanne. Ciel du Cheval Vineyard.

This wine is Red Mountain in a glass. A complex, layered wine with violets and red fruit above and earth and cassis below. Pretty cherry aromas sneak up and around as do floral and herbal notes. Gargantuan on the taste with a tight fruit core and well integrated tannins. Give 2-5 years. 65% Cabernet (Ciel du Cheval); 25% Merlot (Klipsun, Boushey); 8% Cab Franc (Ciel du Cheval); 2% Petit Verdot (Ciel du Cheval).

$75

**

Doyenne Syrah Grand Ciel Vineyard Red Mountain 2006

Herbs de Provence, stone and very light smoke aromas. Tart berries come through as the wine opens up. An elegant wine with a lot of structure. Textured and complex on the palate with berries and currant. 98% Syrah (Grand Ciel); 2% Viogner (Ciel du Cheval).

Beresan, a Walla Walla winery, is the work of Tom Waliser and family. The winery, named after the region of the Ukraine the Walisers are from, is located in a two story barn built in 1926 that was remodeled for Beresan in 2003.

Unlike many Washington wineries, Beresan uses mostly estate fruit. Fruit not from the estate vineyards come from vineyards that Beresan’s owner, Tom Waliser, manages. Complete control over the fruit and winemaking produces results that are quite frequently spectacular.

The 2005 Stone River is no exception. This is a complex, rich, evolving wine that is extremely enjoyable now but should lay down for a number of years.

Latitude 46 North – the name of this winery – is the latitudinal position just south of Walla Walla where this winery is located. Latitude 46 North’s wines are served in Seattle at the Tasting Room located in Post Alley at Pike’s Place.

Lots of black pepper, espresso along with light earth aromas and black cherry. The taste has lots of black cherry and a nice plushness. A full mid-palate and a pleasing finish. 70% Merlot; 26% Cabernet; 4% Syrah. 14.3% alcohol.

Hedges Family Estate made their first vintage in 1987. The winery, located in Benton City, largely concentrates on Cabernet and Merlot. Hedges played a central role in the creation of the Red Mountain AVA in 2001. Pete Hedges serves as their winemaker.

As usual, I will be cracking the wine at about 7pm and looking to get my notes up around 9pm. Please join us in trying the wine and posting your notes. Can't join the virtual tasting on the 26th? Feel free to try the wine at any point before or after this and post your notes once virtual tasting post is up on the 26th.

The feature article this go-round is from the Wall Street Journal which calls Washington syrah the “new kick-butt American Zinfandel.” The article gives callouts to Dunham, Owen Roe, Gramercy, K Vintners, L’Ecole, and Reininger.

From around the country…

The San Francisco Chronicle writes about Cream Wine of Yakima in Sunnyside who will be using refillable quart-sized milk bottles for their wine.